Reversible paint roller tray



Aug. 9, 1966 R. A. CAMPBELL ETAL 3,254,672

REVERSIBLE PAINT ROLLER TRAY Filed March 15, 1964 FIGZ INVENTORS RICHARD A. CAMPBELL CLIFFORD R. BLOOD BY M a/@444,

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,264,672 REVERSIBLE PAINT ROLLER TRAY Richard A. Campbell, Wellesley Hills, and Clifford R. lood, Lexington, Mass, assignors to Baltimore Brushes, Inc., Boston, Mass.

Filed Mar. 13, 1964, Ser. No. 351,792 4 Claims. (Cl. 15-257.06)

This invention relates to a roller tray of the type commonly used with paint rollers. More specifically, it relates to a rigid foam paint tray having two back-to-back chambers. The roller tray is of high quality and yet of such remarkably low cost that it is often more efficient to use each side, i.e. both chambers, and then discard it, rather than to clean and store it.

Heretofore, paint trays have been made of metal or so-called high impact plastic, and also of paper material. The metal trays have relatively long life, provided they are not bent or allowed to rust. Prior plastic trays may also have a substantial useful life, but they generally are susceptible to shattering and cracking. Further, metal and such plastic trays are relatively costly.

Low cost paint trays of paper material often have to be assembled by the user and are generally suitable for only a single painting operation. They are unsuited for being cleaned and re-used, and readily lose their rigidity through use.

It is an object of the invention to provide a roller tray of low cost.

It is a further object to provide a roller tray well adapted for repeated use and yet capable of manufacture at such a low cost as to be suitable for throw-away consumption.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paint tray of the above character suitable for use with paints and other chemicals having different bases.

A further object of the invention is to provide a roller tray construction that is highly resistant to environmental conditions and also accidental damage.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paint roller tray having minimal weight. Such a tray will be inexpensive to transport, economical to store and easy to use.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detaileddescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a roller tray embodying the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a section of the tray of FIG. 1 taken along line 22 thereof.

Although roller trays have heretofore been constructed with many configurations, including the reversible tray shown in United States Patent No. 2,917,764, no one in the competitive painting industry has considered rigid foam, such as expanded polystyrene, to be a suitable material for paint trays.

However, contrary to this experience it has been found that polystyrene can be expanded in a mold to form a one piece reversible roller tray at a remarkably low cost. The tray has the requisite strength combined with remarkably high stability against tipping, even when full of paint. Accordingly, it is highly suitable for both professional and nonprofessional use and it has such low cost that many users will find it more eflicient to discard the lCC tray rather than clean it. The invention thus eliminates one of the unpleasantri'es often associated with painting, particularly by do-it-yourself decorators. The throwaway feature is of particular importance to professionals, who will often find that it costs less to replace the tray than to clean it.

Heretofore expanded polystyrene, and other rigid foams, have been used principally for their outstanding thermal insulation as well as their grain-free, balsa-like properties. However, it has now been found that other properties of these materials can be utilized to allow them to replace more costly materials, primarily metal, heretofore used for fabricating roller trays.

Turning now to the drawings, the rigid foam roller tray has two side walls 12 and 14 joined at their ends by end walls 16 and 18 to form a rectangular enclosure indicated generally at 19.

Although the tray is reversible, for convenience the enclosure 19 is designated as having a top 19a and a bottom 1%. The top 19a, formed by the lateral edges of the walls 12-18, lies in a single plane that intersects the walls 12-18 at right angles and is parallel to the plane of the bottom 19b.

A divider 20, comprising identical fiat end platforms 22 and 24 and an intermediate inclined portion or ramp 26, extends between the side walls 12 and 14. The end platforms 22 and 24 extend from the end walls 16 and 18 at different elevations and lie in different planes between the enclosure top 19a and the bottom 19b. Thus, as viewed in FIG. 2, the end platform 22 is slightly below the top of the end wall 16 and the end platform 24 is slightly above the bot-tom of the end wall 18. The ramp 26 joins the end platforms together to form within the enclosure 19 a chamber indicated at 28 and an identical chamber 30 that is alternatively brought into use by turning the tray over.

The walls 12-18 and divider 20 are preferably of expanded polystyrene, a rigid foam of low cost and high rigidity. They are preferably molded as one piece in a single operation, to attain maximum strength and preclude leakage.

The ramp 26 is preferably provided with a series of ridges 32 on each side thereof. Such ridges aid in distributing paint evenly over a roller as it is drawn upward along the ramp. As shown in FIG. 1, ribs having straight central portions 34 extending across the ramp 26 and' downwardly sloping end portions 36 provide highly satisfactory operation. The central portions 36 are orthogonal to the side walls 12 and 14 and the end portions 36 aer oblique with respect to the side walls.

For use with oil base paints, the interior surfaces of the paint tray chambers are coated with a material resistant to such paints. A urethane coating is suitable for this purpose. One satisfactory commercially available product is a two-part catalyzed urethane coating designated Bostick urethane coating No. 435, available from the B. B. Chemical Division of the United Shoe Machinery Corporation. This particular coating comprises solids prior to drying.

The illustrated tray has such a urethane coating 38 sprayed on the interior surfaces of the chamber 28 and on the surfaces forming the top 19a. When the other chamber 30 is uncoated, it preferably is designated for latex paint only, with the chamber 28 designated as suitable for all paints. This information may be embossed, when the tray is molded, along the surfaces forming the enclosure top 19a, as indicated in FIG. 1 at 40, and along the corresponding surfaces of the bottom 19b.

In summary, roller paint trays can be fabricated of expanded polystyrene and have remarkably low cost. The tray resists damage and deterioration, as rusting, and resists the cracking and shattering that plastic trays are often v susceptible to. Further, the'tray, which is at least asinexpensive as paper trays, remains rigid after repeated use.

Moreover, the rigid foam construction of the-tray, endows it with remarkably light weight. For example, an expanded polystyrene tray embodying the invention weighs only two ounces. As a result, the tray can be shipped at minimal freight rates. Moreover, the lightweight tray is convenient to use.

It will thusbe seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are-efiiciently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above article without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all mattercon (3) said opposed lateral edges of said walls lying in a first pair of parallel planes that are orthogonal to said walls,

(B) a rigid foam divider extending within said enclosure between and integral with said walls, said divider including i (1)' a pair of end platforms (a) extending between andintegral with said 3 side, walls,

(b) integrally joined to different end walls at diiferent heights thereon, and (c) extending in different planes between the planes in said first pair thereof, and (2) a ramp joining said end platforms at their edges remote from said end walls,

(a) said ramp extending between said side wallsand integral with side walls and said platforms (b) so that said divider: forms two chambers within said enclosure, said-chambers being disposed back-to-back with respect to .each

other on opposite sides of said divider, and- (C) an oil-'base paint resistant material coating the in-- terior surfaces of at least a first of said chambers. 2.. A tray according tozclaim 1 further comprising in dicia so arranged on a surface .as to beread when saidv tray 'is'resting. on said lateral edges with saidcoatedfirst chamber facing upward, saidindicia reciting that said uncoated second chamber is suited for containing water base paints.

3.}A'paint roller tray according to claim-*1:

(A) further .comprisin'ga succession of paint-distributing ridges molded integraltwith and protruding from each'side of said'rampof said divider,

(B) inwhich said resistant material is a urethane coatingon the-enclosure top and on theywall and divider surfacesof the chamberbounded by said top,

(C) further comprising first indicia molded on a aux-- face extending paralleltosaid parallel planes to be read when said tray is resting on'said bottom, said first indicia being molded=to protrude with respectto.

said surface and indicating that the chamber bounded by said top is, suitedvfor containing oil base paints;

and (D) second indicia molded .on a surface, extendingpan allel to said parallel planesto be read when said tray is resting on said .top,'-said secondindicia beingimolded to protrude with respectqto said surface and in'dica-t-n ing that the chamber bounded by, said bottomis suited:

for containing waterbase paints. 4. A paint roller tray according to claim 1 in whichsaid rigid foam is expanded polystyrene.

References Cited by theiExaminer V UNITED/STATES PATENTS 2,917,764 12/1959 Whittle ,15257 .06

CHARLES AJWILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. WALTER A. SCHEEL, L. MACHLIN, i

Assistant Examiners.

4/ 1964 Price et al. 2292.5 X 

1. A TRAY FOR ROLLER-TYPE LIQUID-APPLYING IMPLEMENTS, SAID TRAY COMPRISING: (A) A UNITARY RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE OF RIGID FOAM INCLUDING (1) A PAIR OF RECTANGULAR SIDE WALLS, EACH OF WHICH HAS OPPOSED LATERAL EDGES, AND (2) A PAIR OF RECTANGULAR END WALLS, EACH OF WHICH HAS OPPOSED LATERAL EDGES, (3) SAID OPPOSED LATERAL EDGES OF SAID WALLS LYING IN A FIRST PAIR OF PARALLEL PLANES THAT ARE ORTHOGONAL TO SAID WALLS, (B) A RIGID FOAM DIVIDER EXTENDING WITHIN SAID ENCLOSURE BETWEEN AND INTEGRAL WITH SAID WALLS, SAID DIVIDER INCLUDING (1) A PAIR OF END PLATFORMS (A) EXTENDING BETWEEN AND INTEGRAL WITH SAID SIDE WALLS, (B) INTEGRALLY JOINED TO DIFFERENT END WALLS AT DIFFERENT HEIGHTS THEREON, AND (C) EXTENDING IN DIFFERENT PLANES BETWEEN THE PLANES IN SAID FIRST PAIR THEREOF, AND (2) A RAMP JOINING SAID END PLATFORMS AT THEIR EDGES REMOTE FROM SAID END WALLS, (A) SAID RAMP EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SIDE WALLS AND INTEGRAL WITH SIDE WALLS AND SAID PLATFORMS (B) SO THAT SAID DIVIDER FORMS TWO CHAMBERS WITHIN SAID ENCLOSURE, SAID CHAMBERS BEING DISPOSED BACK-TO-BACK WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID DIVIDER, AND (C) AN OIL-BASE PAINT RESISTANT MATERIAL COATING THE INTERIOR SURFACES OF AT LEAST A FIRST OF SAID CHAMBERS. 